A very delayed post about very good game – Alien: Isolation. I finished it somewhere in the middle of July and started playing it in May :D So it was indeed a slow walkthrough.

Let’s start from May. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this game, but sadly was almost unfamiliar with Alien universe. I’ve seen Alien vs Predator, maybe even the second movie as well, but I’ve never really watched the original series. Of course I’ve seen some fragments here and there in the childhood, but that’s all. So before starting the game I decided to watch movies. Chronology of my acquintence with Alien:

• first launch of the game; “Wow, so detailed! Look at this graphics, this lightning and particle effects! it’s one of the first games played on relatively new PC“. 2-3 hours spent studying the very first location (and mission) consisting of the small ship.
• first movie watched; “Wow, I think I saw this spaceship somewhere before!”
• back to game after a few weeks passed. New game. “OMG, this first location is actually an accurate copy of Nostromo!”
• few hours later and every hour of playthrough until the end: “I’m in love with the game!”

While I was playing it I watched Aliens (2nd movie) and Alien 3 at different moments, so I became well familiar with the universe. It’s very close to the original and expands it in such a pleasant way. Can’t name any other example among movies or games. Then was a big pause until July, when I finally finished it and currently I’m hunting for a few remaining achievements.

I must say that it’s a wonderful game. For me it feels like it takes the best from Alien series (good sci-fi, realism, atmosphere), Bioshock and Batman: Arkham Asylum (in sense of some gameplay features, mechanics, gamedesign). The sound is brilliant. I could walk back and forth to the door just to hear the sound of it. The sound of motion sensor, the sounds of various technics - they are so harmonious and so well done. No wonder that among numerous awards it got a few for best in-game sound.

It took me about 40 hours to finish the game (5-10 additional hours could come from me being away while in game). I think, it can be done twice faster, but it’s still a rather slow game. If you get used to your role, you think 10 times before standing up and stopping crouching even when you hear nothing around you and game design suggests that there will be no enemies right now right there. That was the way I played this game :) Another aspect making the game slower and more difficult was me attempting to explore all discovered locations not to miss any materials or collectibles (still missed quite a few). In the end I had tons of unused equipment (all equipment and almost all ammo was actually maxed out :D). And sometimes it meant a lot of unnecessary for surviving troubles.

I absolutely recommend this game! I had a few technical issues, but I believe they were caused by my non-standard PC build (didn’t have troubles on modern gaming laptop). Even if you don’t like horrors, try it out. It’s much more than horror. If I sound like I’m too excited about the game, it’s because I really am :D A true masterpiece, one of the best games I’ve played. 10/10

P.S. Thank you if you read this mindflow till the end. Couldn’t start writing about it for a long time. I might edit some parts when I see extremely bad writing and mistakes.

• Alien: Isolation
  

  55 hours playtime

  47 of 50 achievements